Tesoro Slips Past Stubborn Dana Hills, Clinches Playoff Spot

Junior Nate Tago rushed for a career-best 287 yards and three touchdowns and Tesoro overcame several mental errors, particularly in the third quarter, to hold off a determined Dana Hills team, 35-26, Friday night in a key South Coast League game before a crowd of 800 at Tesoro High.

The Titans (6-2 overall, 2-0 in league), ranked No. 14 in the CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division coaches' poll, clinched a playoff spot with the victory, despite still having to play third-ranked Mission Viejo (6-2, 2-0) and second-ranked San Clemente (8-1, 2-1) on the road in its final two games of the regular season. First up for the Titans next Friday is Mission Viejo, which knocked off previously unbeaten San Clemente, 29-21, Friday night.

“That was a big win for us. That assured us a playoff spot,” beamed Brian Barnes, the Titans' fifth-year coach. “I’m proud of our kids tonight. It wasn’t our best effort, but they pulled out a win.”

Tesoro certainly had to feel fortunate to come out with a victory, especially since the Titans did all they could in the second half to keep the Dolphins (3-6, 0-3) in the contest.

The Titans’ big-play offense was rolling in the first half. First there was a 99-yard kickoff return by Syd Reynolds, after a 62-yard halfback option pass from the Dolphins’ Jeff Ashton to quarterback Shane Scambray, and then a 73-yard run by Tago. A two-point conversion run by Colin Smith gave Tesoro a 15-12 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Tesoro fumbled on its second play and James Deane recovered for the Dolphins at the Titans' 24-yard line. On the next play, Michael McQueen intercepted Scambray's pass and returned it all the way back but fumbled just before getting into the end zone and the ball was recovered by Dana Hills for a touchback.

Dana Hills failed to move the ball and Tesoro got the ball back at its 35. On the third play of the drive, Tago again got through the first defenders and appeared to go for a 65-yard touchdown run; however, a Titans player was called for a hold at the Dolphins' five. Five plays later, they were stopped at the Dolphins' eight on fourth down.

“We can’t have those [mental errors] in Week 8,” Barnes said. “We have to correct those. We’ll go back to the board tomorrow morning and find a way to fix that.”

The two touchdowns that Tesoro gave away buoyed the Dana Hills sideline, and the Dolphins began sensing a change in momentum. But after again holding Dana Hills’ offense to five plays, the Titans got the ball on the Dolphins' 47 and, two plays later, quarterback Matt Adam scampered 42 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 21-12.

However, Dana Hills was done. Tesoro fumbled on its next possession and Devon Vise recovered for the Dolphins at the Titans' 30. Two plays later, Scambray connected with Hunter Briggs for a 32-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to two. Tesoro then fumbled the kickoff out of bounds on its own two, and the ensuing punt went only 16 yards. Dana Hills was stopped at the Titans' eight, but a 25-yard field goal attempt by Logan Warren went just wide right and Tesoro took over at its 20.

Eighty yards and six plays later, the Titans scored on a one-yard run by Tago to take a 28-19 lead.

Dana Hills rallied again on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Scambray to Briggs, to again cut the Titans' lead to two with 6:51 remaining, but Tesoro punted to the Dolphins' one and Scambray was sacked and fumbled on the four-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. A five-yard touchdown run by Tago sealed the victory.

“We moved the ball all right. We got some big turnovers. Sometimes we capitalized on them, sometimes we didn’t,” lamented Dolphins coach Todd Rusinkovich. “The field goal … that was tough. And we almost had a safety. The ball was on the one-inch line. That’s just the way football goes. We played well, but Tesoro played better.”

In particular, it was Tago who was the dagger for Tesoro. The junior carried only 19 times but had runs of 76, 73, 27, 60 and 38 yards to finish with 287 yards and three touchdowns. The rest of the rushing and passing offense accounted for 103 yards.

“Tago is a man-child,’ Barnes said. “That’s the most we’ve had a running back run for since I’ve been here. He is a heck of a football player.”

Rusinkovich said of Tago: “He’s a great athlete. We tried to run a few defensive looks, but he busted out some big runs. Opposing defenses are going to have to game plan around him for sure. We knew he was a great player coming in and he showed what a great player he is.”

Scambray also was outstanding for Dana Hills. He finished 25 of 43 for 306 yards with two interceptions, three touchdown passes and one touchdown reception. Briggs had 10 catches for 174 yards and three touchdowns.

Dana Hills concludes its 2011 season at home Friday against Trabuco Hills (5-3, 0-2) at 7 p.m.

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Tesoro posted a 35-26 victory over Dana Hills in their South Coast League showdown Friday night at Tesoro High.

With the victory, the Titans (6-2 overall, 2-0 in league) remain tied with Mission Viejo for first place in league. Tesoro plays at Mission Viejo (6-2, 2-0) next Friday night. The Diablos defeated San Clemente, 29-21, on Friday.

Syd Reynolds had a 99-yard kickoff return and teammate Nate Tago had a 73-yard scoring run to give Tesoro a 15-12 lead at halftime against Dana Hills.

Tago had 144 yards in five carries by halftime.

Dana Hills scored on a 62-yard halfback option pass from Jeffrey Aston to quarterback Shane Scambray. Scrambray also connected with Hunter Briggs for a 15-yard touchdown.

Next Friday, Dana Hills (3-6, 0-3) plays host to Trabuco Hills (5-3, 0-2).